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Danny’s Gone
Everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made a bunch. It’s the ones that start small and seem insignificant that sneak up on you over time that are the ones that have the biggest consequence. The mistakes that lead to other people getting hurt are hard to confront. But the most pain comes when a mistake ends up hurting a child. I’ve done that.
I’m not writing about this to cleanse my soul (I wish it were that easy). I’m hoping that readers see this story and learn from my errors. I think my mistake has been made a few million times the past decade or so. It’s just time to discuss the consequences of our actions.
About ten years ago I was in need of a big hole. I have enough property to always need something. This time it was a drainage ditch and a dry well. I knew that there were workers looking for jobs in a nearby town. I’d heard about it from neighbors who had gone to a corner in Ossining, NY where day workers from south of the border came in the mornings. I didn’t think much of it at the time.
Sure enough, there were workers. Construction trucks were picking up guys. When I drove up a half dozen came up to me. They all talked a fast Spanish, they all wanted a job. For no particular reason I chose one. His name was Caesar. Two days later what I wanted done had been accomplished. A nice job at that. I paid cash for the work. It was $80 a day, plus I provided food.
I drove him back to where he lived at night; a not so nice apartment that he shared with eight others. I didn’t think much of it at the time.
He had my telephone number and called a few weeks later and said, “I need work”.
I understood that this was a cry for help from a guy who was having trouble getting food money. I had a ton of things that had been left undone. So I said, “Yes”.
So it became a few days a week. That lasted awhile. I introduced him to others. Everyone needed work done. It turned out that Caesar had many skills. He was a good mason and could lay up stonewalls. He was a painter, gardener, a decent mechanic and a pretty good rough and finish carpenter. He was from Quenca, Ecuador (small city outside of Quito). He had a wife, Ruth, and a daughter who was then three years old. He left his family to come to America.
We talked while we worked, I spoke “Spanglish” he spoke broken English, we understood each other perfectly. He, of course, was here illegally. He had made the long trip from Ecuador to NY via the Texas border. He came to the US because (his words) there were no jobs an no future in his home country. We became friends of a sort.
After a year or so, Caesar had saved up some money. He sent $10,000 (via Citi) back to Ecuador. This was the payoff money to the Coyotes who would transport his wife to the Texas border. She made the trip in the back of a box truck. She was raped on the way.
She was dumped, (with 20 others) in the brush country outside of Brownsville, Texas. She walked to the lights of the city and took a bus to NY. Thousands of “Ruth’s” made this trip.
Not too long after she made the long journey she was pregnant. This may have been the result of two devout Catholics and a long separation. But it was also a defensive move on their part. They knew that a child born in America would automatically become a citizen. They believed that if they were the parents of a American child they would never be deported. A common belief that has led to many children being born to illegal workers.
They named their son Danny. A healthy and happy child. Life was good for the family during the early part of the decade. There was steady work for both of them. Housekeeping for Ruth, Caesar worked construction. In 2003 they had a combined income of $60,000. A number that made them “rich” compared to the world they had come from. They were living the same dream that millions of immigrants had when they came to the US over the years. The difference, of course, was that they were illegal and had no right to be here. They bought fake Social Security cards (easy to get back then).
They lived in an area that was exploding in population of men and women who had come from Ecuador. Word travelled back to Cuenca that work and money was available. Over the course of just five years the illegal population exploded in the towns of Ossining, Peekskill and Mt. Kisco. Bodega’s and restaurants popped up.
Danny grew up fast. I saw to it that he had the medical attention he needed and later pulled a string or two to get him into the local schools. There were birthdays and holidays that I contributed to. He came to my home and I taught him to swim. Unlike his parents, he took to the water and swam like a rat. He called me, “Grandfather”. I was okay with that.
Danny was as much an American boy as any you could find. He spoke English perfectly (much to his parents chagrin). He liked American football, he didn’t play soccer. He loved basketball. He did fine in school. He made many friends. He was invited to the birthday parties of his classmates. He was a very happy kid.
Around 2005 my feelings on what was happening began to change. What had started innocently enough was now morphing into something that was no longer innocent. It was clearly a population explosion that would end up with a bad result. I slowly changed my views. I saw the risks that were developing for all that were involved. This change of heart was influenced by people who knew I was helping a family out. Some made it clear that I should not be helping the “Browns”.
I tried to make things right. I hired a lawyer and sponsored Ruth to become a US citizen. Her application was accepted in 2005. The formal notice that she was “in line” to become legal was a source of a great celebration. Six years later her application had still not gone anywhere. Not one single applicant from Ecuador was given immigration status (Green card) in all those years.
I saw to it that Ruth kept a record of all of her income. She paid taxes on what she made, the same as anyone would do. I thought this was important. It would prove that she was playing by the rules. I thought that the tax records would support her request for citizenship. It never mattered at all.
I no longer hired Caesar. I wanted him “on the books”. So he found work where no one asked questions about his legal status. If he had a SS card (illegal or not) there was plenty of work to be had. Somehow that quasi-legal status made it “right”.
Things fell apart for this family starting in 2008. The recession killed the construction industry. With that went the jobs the illegal’s had come for. The unemployment rate for the illegals went from functionally zero to at least 50%. Caesar was only able to find “pickup” work a few days a week.
I saw what was happening. I urged them to go back to Ecuador. I offered them the money to buy plane tickets. They wanted none of that. They stuck it out in the hope (like so many others) that the US economy would turn around. It never did.
Around 2010 there was a new challenge emerging. The local police began targeting the illegals. They stopped the cars they drove in to work. The cops were clearly profiling (they swore they were not). ICE (Immigration, Customs Enforcement) raided a few businesses that hired these workers. Jobs disappeared as a result. To make things worse the illegals were subject to random attacks. One was beat to death while in the custody of the police. A once happy immigrant community was scared to walk the streets.
Ruth, Caesar and Danny stuck it out as long as they could. But Caesar was stopped by the police and was given a summons to appear in court.
I was gone last week. When I got back there was a message on the phone from Danny. He was leaving the next day. He was crying. He wanted to see me before he left. When I got back I went to his home. He was already gone.
Think what it must be like for a ten-year old boy who is American as any of us to be forced out of the country. Think what a strange life he faces in a country that bears no resemblance to what he grew up with. He will not fit in. He doesn't speak Spanish fluently. His parents are back in a place that they know. They are also back in a place that has no opportunity for them and their son.
I know in my heart that I’m partially responsible for Danny’s plight. There is not much I can do about it. I will find him someday. I’ll try to make this right. But the damage has already been done. There is a ten-year old American boy whose life has been ripped apart. That’s a fact that is very hard for me to come to grip with.
**********************************
There is little to celebrate this Labor Day. There are so many Americans who have no work or are doing jobs for little pay and no upside. The illegal workers who came here in the good times are leaving in droves. In 2007 there were 12mm in the country. The endless recession has reduced that number to 8mm in just a few years. The depression we are living through has hurt many families. The ones that are on the bottom of the rung are paying the biggest price. Families like Danny’s have been hurt the most.
I know that many readers will think that my participation in this story was all wrong. That Danny and I deserve the pain we have. I expect a fair bit of criticism for this. Trust me, no words you can write would make feel worse than I do. I think of Danny all the time. I pray that this American child is safe.
.
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James, posterity will thank you for perserving this piece of blogistory (as an example of why one should never post to blogs from a pub or similar)
you talkin to janus, ??
i'm right here.
this'll only hurt for a lil while/
i'll only put the head of it in/
i promise that i'll never try to come in yer mouth,
janus (with special thanks to David Allen Coe)
thanks.
now, i dare you haters. don't be a cowardly button pusher -- bring it!
I AM JANUS. LOOK ON ME AND DESPAIR!
No, you're just "Chun...the unavoidable". I only regret that I can't junk you more than once on a single pass thru the thread. You warmed-over communist turd.
funny, you call me a communist; and then claim to be a fascist.
did you forget what those sorry commie turds did to the fascists? and that just shows that it only takes a commie turd to crush a fascist -- compassionate or otherwise. imagine what'll happen when janus is let loose on you. i sense a username change commin. janus is responsible for 13 so far -- i will assign you your number when that time comes.
i know that fascists think volume wins all debates; but, twitcompoop, can you turn down the bold. it's really no way to compensate for a deficency in vocabulary or intellect. really, it's rather revelatory of the former and especially the latter.
this cat can't wait to bat around another smelly rat.
and, CP, i've never voted you down. i'm no coward -- if your comments ever merit my attention, you'll fuckin know it; and it won't come in the form of some faggoty red-arrow down.
i only regret that i cannot yet void the votes you cast at your local pollin station.
when i am king/
you will be first against the wall/
and your opinion/
which is of no consequence at all,
janus (with a little help from radio head)
So this is the best Labor Day story you can write? It figures!
your guilt seems a little misplaced. you did a lot more for these people than most would have. and i don't think you did it just because your were saving a few bucks on the labor. the personal relationships are what matters. we're all biased that way.
Bruce, you have given a helping hand on more than one occasion. But Danny and his parents need to find their own way, unless you're willing to pay for all their needs forever (and by doing so possibly disenfranchise them).
Danny has a f'ing US passport, so in 8 years he can come here and do what his father did but this time legally and hopefully under some protection by the law. He should learn Spanish, go to, and then finish school - I assume they also have public schools in Ecuador. How hard it will be for his parents to find jobs and earn money there might be a more difficult question. Stay in touch with them and see.
And finally, when you add a little rationality to your emotions, you might become aware that there are millions of families that run into deep dodo every year, for reasons they did or did not cause, and they have to handle it (mostly) by themselves.
More generally speaking you should reflect a bit on your white guilt feelings.
And for a honest stocktaking, you should in your post try to state the remedy you would prefer, if you see any: unlimited immigration for everyone, to the US or whatever your domicile is nowadays, for example?
Or simply state you also don't know how to untangle this. Thanks.
Mr. Krasting, Do NOT read what follows. it may be misconstrued as flattery; and this janus will not brook. what follows is not your reward; you are laying up for yourself treasures which are in heaven. it is difficult for me to say this (and it rarely escapes my lips), but, mr. krastings, you are a Good Man -- the most pronounced deficency in the world today.
let me speak a few words for the souls of men:
janus understands the pervasive aversion to christianity. lord byron once said, "i too would become a christian if only i didn't know so many." the sentiments of janus and lord byron are of a single accord. 'christians' are some of the vilest persons i know. the foulest of bigots; the cruelest of masters; the harshest of tyrants (especially those impotent little ants, the tyrants of the dinner table -- men who reign over their families with an iron fist and crush the spirit of all around them; such men shall ROT IN HELL!!!!); the blackest of hearts -- and, yet, they feel so fully justified in the squalor of their filthy souls.
let me speak truth for the souls of men:
if you love your neighbor as your self (as so spendidly demonstrated above), you are a Christian (whether you realize it or not). if you seek to intervene when power is leveraging the poor, you are a Christian. if you seek peace and do it earnestly, you are a Christian. if evil makes your skin crawl, you are a Christian. if you have ever righted a wrong, you have labored in the sevice of The Almighty -- and your reward does not perish, it does not rust, neither moth can corrupt...furthermore, it has no counterparty risk, and its intrinsic value is a function of NOTHING but the EVERLASTING.
let me speak truth to the confused hearts of men:
some may say, 'janus, how can you believe in a just God when the innocent suffer so?' janus answers back, 'it is indeed immeasurable, the tragic consequence of free-will, but for love to be a choice, evil is a necessary evil. moreover, the greater miracle still is that so many innocent are somehow safe in such a wicked world; and again, how in the HELL are people so vile as janus and bruce krasting permitted to continue drawing breath? we, none of us, are innocent. we, all of us, are to blame. we are, and will continue to be, sustained by Common Grace. though don't be deceived, there is nothing common about Grace.
Christ came that you may have LIFE; and that you may have it more abundantly.
and, behold, the KINGDOM of HEAVEN is within you (it's no far off place; just be still and silent, it will call you).
and, as a final note, i'm a Calvinist, and therefore believe in Predestination (i understand the objections; but it's not so cruel a doctrine). if, like janus, you feel the tickling of Truth in your heart; if like janus, you are among The Elect, please, please, please don't go to church! whatever you do, stay clear of those dens of sin! whatever is good in you will be bastardized; and whatever is missing will be filled with blackness and despair. yes, church is THAT much of a threat to your very soul -- stay clear, and consider yourself warned! open your Bible. read the words of Christ. everything else in that Book is just supporting evidence. the Bible is a Him book (play on words, nitwits); it's the story of a man, The Man -- who is God.
The Alpha and the Omega.
My prayers are with Danny and his whole famil. but, in a way, janus envys the caeser family -- do you guys have room for a no-good cracker from alabama? i wanna live a simple life in equador. in fact, there are a few south american politicians whom janus has learned to idolize....anybody seen oliver stone's documentary on 'you know who'? oh, yes, but i forgot....george bush is the christian and hugo chavez is the devil -- what's wrong with you, janus? is your programming starting to fall apart?
janus is inspired; janus will tell the story of why MD means so much to him tomorrow.
janus and jerry lewis are pleading for some help tomorrow.
much obliged,
The SYMPARANEKROMINOI
Uncontrolled immigration always causes serious economic and social problems. Germany is an example. It radicalizes the population and it is a decision deliberately made, perhaps in the shadow power structure.
The trouble with open border policies is that they turn human populations into locust-like swarms, buzzing from one "boom town" to the next, displacing and crowding out those whose taxes provided the 1st world buffet, breeding resentment (and fatter profits for Chamber of Commerce types) while creating a city manger's nightmare...
How many teachers to hire? how many new classrooms, jail & hospital beds needed? What economic distortions are caused by the sudden arrival (& departure) of 1000's of new residents, under the table laborers and cultural neophytes?
Bruce. Have you ever read "After Many A Summer Dies the Swan" by Aldous Huxley? In it he talks about the unintended consequences of charity...
uncontrolled immigration is the story of man, you fucking nitwit!
so you're one of those that give 'conspiracies' a bad name. oh, i don't know, maybe somethin silly like feedin your family may have someting to do with a million individuals making, not 'deliberate', but necessary decisions.
let's see what your belly's sayin to you when you miss five or six meals -- better yet, watch yer young ens go hungry; then come back and talk to me about your fucking 'social problems'
i can tell you something else germany is an example of.
come on neocons, won't one of you fucker take me on! COWARDS!!! every last one of you.
you're the self-same tyrants of the dinner table i referred to above. now let's see what you've learned from rupert murdoch -- let's see how well it stands up to JANUS! bitchez!
Mr. Durden,
I withdraw my objection to the voting system. This is proof that democracy is a failed experiment.
you people have proven, epoch after epoch, that you require people like janus to do what's best for you in spite of your pathetic selves.
I say bring in the Napoleon of the first counsel days. EUROPA (bethoven's third, bitchez!)
you silly worms and your beloved 'democracy'. well, since 'democracy' is tantamount to tyranny, be prepared to share the fate of all tyrants.
please, even if you are so tempted, do not EVER vote janus green -- it weakens me.
thanks,
janus
The guy that wrote this article should take into account that Danny's parents snuck into a foreign country illegally. Grant it was for a noble reason to better themselves, it was still done illegally. They had to have realized that at any point in time the gig could be up and they would be deported, that was a risk that they lived with daily as a result of their decision. Unfortunately Danny is affected by this decision the parents made.
There are many people that do the right thing, and make the sacrifices to immigrate to this country legally, and they are allowed to stay. The screwed up part is the US Federal Government gave these people a false sense of hope that they would be made citizens some day, even went so far as to exploit the cheap labor of these people, during good times, then kick them out of the country during bad times. Being at the bottom of the social economic ladder and being illegally in the country means they have absolutely no recourse. Sad but true. I am the son of 2nd generation Hispanic immigrants, my grandfather came to the US legally, so I understand these peoples plight. Hopefully the money that was sent back to his family was spent well so that they are better off for what they went through. I am not sure what your beef is Janus, seems like you have an axe to grind, with someone, so since I am the only person that responded to your rant I guess it will be me.
I would advice you to ignore Janus. You do not argue with a drunk.
cfosnock is a pussy! and not man enough to take janus on if he has something to say to him.
if cfosnock must know, janus had a bit of a problem with the stuff long ago...and hasn't had any except for toasts on holidays. save for nicotine and caffine, there is never a drug in my body (well, i take that back; i've had some opiates lately due to a flu).
so, cfsnock, my 'ramblings' must be credited to an intoxicant of another variety.
you know, it's funny you mention that, the aposltes were accused of being drunk on wine when they were imbued with the Holy Spirit. it's in the book of Acts -- go ye therefore, and seek the Truth.
Think Jesus would be puttin up a fence in Texas, you sorry lil bitchez?
oh yeah, i sense you're one of those 'christians' to whom i refer. do i lie, cfosnock?
Actually I'm a atheist. When I asked you if you had been drinking, you said yes. Based on your response I assumed you are a drunk.
well, then, my godless dimwit, i'll have to assume you're unfamiliar with honey-dew, the milk of paradise, ambrosia, romantic poetry, and since i can from there extrapolate, i'll assume your wittle mind has one, maybe two, thoughts rattling around in that cavernous cavity of a skull....so i will bid you adieu.
i can do you little good, my man. we're far too far apart.
i don't mean to speak down to you, but there is quite the height differential to overcome.
come back and try me again in a decade or so; you need to start with the greats of western lit, expand your reach out into the works of the orient, and then close with an attempt to synthesize the modern with all that has come before. it'll be a long journey, but the reward is well worth the effort.
i started with doestoevsky. your journey is your own.
all the best,
janus
Well thank goodness for small miracles maybe you will actually stop posting your ramblings. FYI I really do not follow Coleridge but assumed that you were using his poetry as a metaphor for your alcohol abuse after all was it not one for his addiction. But who cares if I actually started to read romantic poetry I would have someone take me out back and shoot me. I would advice you read some Dickinson or even Poe, instead of wasting your time with romantic poetry.
from memory, bitch:
once upon a midnight dreary/
while i pondered weak and weary/
over many a quaint and cuirous volume of forgotten lore/
suddenly there came a tapping/
as of someone gently rapping/
rapping at my chamber door...
bitch, i've memorized more poems than you've ever read. don't EVEN go down that road.
so, i will extend an apology, i can see how you could transpose such a metaphor.
but is this really what you want? you are asking for janus to drag you to the Light by force?
my good man, there are masochists in this world and then there are afosnocks.
actually, what were we arguin about...it was something besides peotry -- let me go back and look. i don't remember you being an ass that needed correcting; so why am i doing this to begin with?
oh, and before you go down 'that' road; no, i don't limit myself in any way -- i love dawkins and voltaire as much as i do any other men of faith of equal talent.
and let me be clear on another point before i go back and figure out what you need help with, cfosnock; in the New Age there will NEVER be another religious government. don't let janus's personal feelin's for Christ confuse anyone. i'm a secularist through and through.
wait right here, cfosnock.
what tha?
so this whole thing is over coleridge, and you confusin my metaphor (i meant the heavenly stuff, of course -- bein a god and all)?
you ain't so bad, cfsonck....not even as bad as janus.
i bear you no malice,
janus
Numnutt,
I appreciate the mature tone, and i will respond in kind. I am not a bully; i am here to teach peace and tame the proud.
Now, let us analyze this thing you call LAW:
there was a time in this world (the anglo-saxon world) when we functioned according to the tenents of Common Law (the greatest thing my sorry people ever gave the earth). Blackstone, the great theorist, summed it nicely: the law is a defense of the innocent, not a weapon in the hands of power (that's paraphrased, but i suspect you get the point). that was then. these days the law is the most plastic and nebulous thing imaginable -- need a law to accomodate yer rich buddy? no FUCKING problem! just give me enough to bribe, ahem, i mean donate to their 501 of course, and it's a cinch. don't want a law to apply to you? if you've got the money, honey! i've got the clemency!
let me give you an example: the town in which janus attended university is my family's feifdom. my aunt was the goddam judge, to give you but a small idea of what pervasive power means. i wish i could tell you how many times i was arrested...never convicted -- not even a record of the ARRESTS!!! i have a goddam security clearance, bitch (i think it expired a couple of years ago, actually). i can't even measure the pounds of highly illegal substances i pumped into my body over the course of those years -- and i was able to strut around with impunity! why? cause i'm a 10+ generation southerner from a land owning family with connections everywhere and a last name that carrys weight. you know what power does when it sees gonzalez or some such appelation? it fuckin scoffs at your heroic struggle. think i'm joking? i've been trained in the ways of manipulation and power. believe me or don't; i care not. i'm just here to tell you that this precious LAW you hold in such high esteem is a pathetic joke, and th joke is on you.
janus had a sort of awakening several years ago. and if you keep putting your faith in our nefarious 'laws' you'll soon be wakin up to a rather harsh reality.
just because a bunch of lazy white-folk are gettin out-worked by ambitious mexicans is no reason to start hatin; get your ass out there in your beloved 'market' and teach them a thing or two.
no, numbnutt, it won't be you; you're a gentleman. seem like a decent fella to me.
if you're lost in the rain in juarez when it's easter time too/
and your gravity fails and negativity won't pull you through/
don't put on any airs when you're down on rue morgue avenue/
they got some hungry women there and they really make a mess outta you,
janus
Janus, actually I agree with you 100% concerning law, I have been on the short end of the stick several times, and the Hispanic last name did not help at all. I think you missunderstood one thing, I was not condoning the US law, I was just noting that the people in question broke it. What I was getting at in this country is that TPTB are more then happy to exploit these people as long as it benefits them, and when it does not, they toss these people out the door like yesterdays trash.
This is how our legal system works. If you are rich you can get away with murder, just ask OJ. If you are poor you end up getting your head kicked in for a DWI, just ask Rodney King. Funny how the law is supposed to be blind and everyone is innocent until proven guilty, HA! What a fucking joke, if anyone believes that then they have never gotten a traffic ticket from a speed camera. And just a note regarding the Hispanic work ethic, I was the general contractor for my house when I built it, and got to see first hand how hard those people were willing to work, for less pay then the white workers. I am fully convinced that the housing boom never would have happened had it not been for the Hispanics. In that industry from the bottom up, right to the federal government, people were stuffing their pockets with cash made off the labor those people were willing to do, and it was that greed that has led us to were we are today. Hats off to you Janus, you caught me off guard with your first rant, but I think we see things in the same light.
Janus was an american golden-boy.
they cannot touch janus, my head hath been annointed with the spermaceti (it's tough to explain).
they can bind me, but they cannot harm me.
Janus and all like him have been betrayed. We are awakening to that fact slowly but surely.
These are revolutionary times, my friend. We will work on social order on the other side.
I hope you have an appetite for destruction. There will be much to gain if you can find the strength to treat those who have no mercy ruthlessly. they most certaily deserve it. they were training me to keep you sqarely in line...now i want you to give them back everything sevenfold.
these people are far weaker than they'd like you to believe. they are all Ozes behind diaphanous curtains. rip them down and kill the callow men behind...if you don't exterminate them, they will only grow back stronger -- i absolutely assure you on this score. they understand the way you think, but you don't understand how uniformly evil their thoughts are.
Love,
janus
Uncontrolled immigration always causes serious economic and social problems. Germany is an example. It radicalizes the population and it is a decision deliberately made, perhaps in the shadow power structure.
Organized Jewry, via their puppet democrat pty, took down our immigration laws during the 1960s and substituted the current trans-border FreeForAll; Repube Chamber of Commerce flooziees, noticing all that sweatshop labor, came on board next; then the bleeding heart Bruce Krastings of the world. As far as the initiators, the Jews, are concerned...they just want to be "safe". Not to get "holocausted" again. And that means the Evil Whites (Jews = Asiatics, that's where their knee-jerk collectivism comes from) have to go. First, be made a minority in a country ruled by a Jew-controlled majority of low IQ, collectivizable blacks and browns. That's about a decade away. And then exterminated altogether. And then theres' the globalist JewBankster angle, ultimately, the RedShield. Why do you think Bloomberg, Soros, Schumer, Feinstein et al are all manical gun-grabbers? The Globalists can't rule the world w/o destroying the nations, & they can't destroy the nations w/o destroying the middle class. And in America (and Europe) that's mainly the (armed) whites.
looky, looky, looky -- we've got us a fuckin bold-faced scholar.
compassionate fascist copied this screed verbatim from the move "the blues brothers". at least come up with your own words.
i just saw your immediate future, CP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhozx819izU
but what comes later is worse...much worse!
i'm a soul man!,
janus
Going to Ecuador soon, If you have anything you'd like me to bring them (if possible) I'd be happy to bring it down.
take janus! he's great company; speaks almost fluent spanish (with a hick accent); y, me encanta las senoritas!
he's also a world renownd racountour.
5 (6? 9?) pages of fodder for denouncing illegal immigration in the first place -- it's a tangled web 10 times over... financially, emotionally, et al...
Rather than damning Bruce, damn the leadership who did not -- and still doesn't -- give a shit.
This story fits the globalist reality quite well. Here is a little wake up call to all you "holier than thou" posters. Over the last few decades, swarms of Americans have poured into Latin American countries to work illegally. And since 2008, that number has skyrocketed.
Americans on the whole have degrees and are better educated than the locals. So everywhere you go, there is high demand for marketing, call center, real estate, and teaching positions. A person simply doesn´t argue when he is offered a job and that is what is needed to feed his family.
The game in on. The elites move to one country or another seamlessly, paying their way. But for workers they have to pay attention to the rules. Don´t get caught by immigration. Try to blend in. Stay nimble and observe economic conditions.
Like my French friend said to me about the demonstrations in the streets of Paris: Even the thirteen-year-olds know that they get smacked on the head with a billy club if they get caught.
I never realized there were so many jerks on ZH.
I used many Home Depot illiegal workers for about 5 years ending in 2008 for painting and light repairs on my home and rentals. That has stopped. The risk of being sued by their hispanic lawyers for soft tissue issues where you may lose your home and retirement is enormous and real. Do not hire any illegals. There are 24 hour/day lawyers advertising on hispanic channels just waiting to take you to court for any and all trumped up claim. BTW I live in CA.
tempo, nice to see you stopped for all the right reasons
much better to use a contractor or lawn maintenance service that employs the undocumented (illegal), that way your exposure to litigation is almost nil
now that feels better, doesn't it, $500/mth for the weekly cut and blow, no questions asked and no pending suits
Hello Bruce,
At one point or another, people are given to consult the iChing, occasional hexagrams. But a reading from cover-to-cover tends to illustrate forces of change for men, who even well-intentioned, find themselves creating something they believe to be opposite of their intention. Or subject to forces that they cannot control.
This part of the story occurs not for lack of love, or devotion, or incorrect ideals, on anyone's part. However, there are times when difficulties arise that even seem insurmountable.
I hope you may find, as some have, that even behind these apparent tragedies which appear so prima fascie, there is a generally benevolent force at work.
upshots:
1) they got their DNA together and replicated - enormous satisfaction for them
2) their kid speaks English, the official business language of the world, and knows you as an entreprenurial icon, as well as his Dad, and he will have chances in Ecuador because he speaks English that his parents didn't.
Don't count these people out, and don't confuse playing good for playing God. You did your best. You shared, you guided, you appeared as an icon of civility beyond cultural divides.
Mighty big HO! to you, my friend, and a big hug. Fuckin' a, buy yourself a goddamn beer on me. Your father must have loved you greatly and taught you right.
Good on ya.
I can't believe I'm reading this - with all youse guys emoting.... has ZH morphed into some kind of "Agony Aunt" hangout?
Danny's gone? So freekin what? We're all gonna be gone - permanently - sooner that you think.
You know who else is gone? All those kids in Iraq, Afgahistan, Pakistan that you - with your tax dollars - have been bombing the sh!t outta all these years
Now Brucie - and the rest of you Weeping Willies- pull the lint outta your navel, get over it and and get a freekin grip!
Or - no need to go to Ecuador - go adopt, or sponser, an inner city kid from Detroit or the S Bronx. Fat chance of that eh? Thought so.
What a loada hypocritical, self-serving - so Brucie can share his "pain" - drivel. Geeezzz!!!
okay, frankie's is an ojbection with which i do find some sympathy.
so now i'm to believe there's a Good Man in new york...come on! i'm from alabama, but i'm not that naive.
God Bless You, NYFrankie! but, it think you went a bit far.
i would enjoy hearing any of your stories of charity; as inspiration, not self-serving 'drivel'...indeed, it is a fine line; but i think mr. krasting toed it deftly.
love,
the weeping willy
Well Janus, the last "random act of kindness" I can recall was when I was approached by an obviously distraught & dishevelled - almost certainly homeless - individual on W 43rd St one cold, drizzly winter night about 20 years ago.
What, you might ask, was I doing in the cesspit that was 10th Ave & W 43rd St (before Goody-Two-Shoes Giuliani cleaned the place up for all those pain-in-the-ass tourists)? Probably skulking around for smut - since, remember this was the pre-internet era.
Anyway, as he - the bum, not Ghouliani - gazed glassy-eyed, drooling & slack jawed at the cigarette hanging from the corner of my mouth - I surmised that he was probably thinking that a least a hit of nicotine would ameliorate his gnawing hunger pangs.
With at least two or three drags left, I balanced the butt (Marlboro Red Premium, I seem to recall) on the outdooor ledge of a neon-lit XXX bookstore- and beckoned him towards it.
Disappearing down the rat-hole to the Times Sq subway, I glanced back and saw the the recipient of my largesse eagerly dragging on the butt I'd left (probably went right thru the damn tip!) - seemingly attempting, in the process, to warm his cupped-hands on the dying embers.
Now I'm not saying that this makes me some kinda male 'Mother Teresa' - but I almost brushed a tear of compassion away that night (or maybe it was just the frigid air making my eyes water) - and I do hope it at least goes someway to dispelling any notion you might still have that all NYers are heartless b@stards.
NYFrankie,
i like yer style. i'm gonna close out this night, and git my customary four hours of sleep rite now, but i want you to know it will be ushered in by a warmly welcomed guffaw courtesy one keenly witted new yawker.
and, my friend, let me send you an unambiguously earnest tribute. you and me's gonna be the kind of friends i like -- salty bruthas. i think you can take a joke. Lord knows janus can (when he knows it's comin from the right place).
seems you know that thing about not ringin a bell and soundin a trump...but, at least allow that people can be inspired.
so here's my tribute. let me know if you're ever in my radius. and, when i come up there, i will demand from you directions to new yawk's finest rueben sandwich:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dxiOKb3z6w
i had a good friend in new yawk city/
he never called me by my name, just hill-billy...,
stay safe,
the hill-billy liberal
NuYawkFrankie does not have to say anything he is not a "weeping willy." He made a nice point, and attacking the messenger does not destroy the point he has made
methinks perhaps you've missed the point. if you think i was attacking frankie, well, my friend, you don't know janus. i like frankie; and basically agree with what he said -- i just think he mistook bruce's intent.
you need to acquaint yourself with the comma (you're missing a couple); i almost mistook what you were saying (and i have em mighty itchy trigger finger!)
janus is the weeping willy, not frankie.
janus is proud to weep when necessary.
the book of samuel says that david had the mind of a man and the heart of a woman; so does janus.
but janus believes in tough love.
love,
the weeping willy
Just curious have you been drinking?
yes, i have tasted honey-dew and drunk the milk of paradise.
one could say i'm silly on the stuff.
ambrosia's da shit; git you some, bitch!
"I know that many readers will think that my participation in this story was all wrong. That Danny and I deserve the pain we have. I expect a fair bit of criticism for this."
No one thinks you were wrong ! We are all products of the times & culture we live in. Few of us can really see what's really happening until time passes & we have that wonderful hindsight & wisdom of age !! I luved the story.
The Human Drama is all that it is.
Same guilt and pleasure and regret would come from a thousand acts of kindness you do in life.
Say, bring a homeless guy(U.S. citizen) into your house for a couple of days, hear his hard luck story, hear about the kids and wife he abandoned back in wherever to try and make a living in your town, and then when you have to get back to your life, you return him to the street, and you'll feel the same emotions.
A billion stories in the naked city. Just part of being alive. Don't feel good or bad about it, it just is what it is.
Bruce,
I don't blame you for seeking a good value for your money (hiring Cesar), nor for befriending and assisting the family in their times of crisis and need, and I especially don't blame Danny. I mostly blame the globalists that destroy poor foreign nations and the culture that once made them self sufficient. I blame the socialists for wage interventions like the minimum wage which attract illegal immigrants and render the job market with too few jobs available. I blame the IMF for loaning money to countries that cannot possibly pay it back.
Screw all of y'all who are all pissy with Bruce in some of the comments I'm reading here. The problem is not that Bruce hired and helped Cesar, the problems fall squarely on shoulders of the idiots in charge.
-Caroline
Yep...lets be typical American's and not accept responsibility for our actions. Now lets figure out who we can sue.
Bruce is a beacon. Lord knows how badly I HATE those fuckers in Congress and at the Fed. If the economy wasn't juiced over the last decade would could have had sustainable growth.
If Danny learned anything from you BK he will be a survivor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwxUo_ggwnc
Willy DeVille - Stand By Me
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8_ncS5E7sQ
very large owl
It about helping out a family....nothing more, saving a few bucks, so what...We are all a human family, that's all there is to it...and that's what he said...""he didn't think much of it".
When the SHTF, many of us will want to leave in other countries, maybe, equator, and maybe there will be no time to do things legally... Helping folks whether they are locals or not is not a question of right or wrong, it's just a humane thing to do. IT S NOT the illegals who are taking away american citizen's jobs...it's those F...n banks whose asses we had to bail out !
Bruce, you helped a family in need, and that was the right thing to do.